AFCON
Yes, Host Nations Have Lost Final Matches! –
BY ADEMOLA OLAJIRE
There is nothing sacrilegious about host nations losing in the Final match of the Africa Cup of Nations, as a number of host nations have come so close, seen the trophy displayed in front of their vociferous and passionate fans and yet failed to get their hands on the coveted prize.
In the fifth edition of the championship in 1965 (the competition’s founding nations were Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Africa, though South Africa eventually did not take part until 1996, a fall-out of her apartheid policies), hosts Tunisia lost 2-3 (after extra time) to defending champions Ghana at the Stade Chedli Zouiten in Tunis.
In 1982, Ghana was passing through a phase of harsh economic conditions, and military strongman Jerry John Rawlings said the government could not afford to send the Black Stars to Libya for the 13th AFCON. Libya’s strongman Moamer Ghadaffi bailed the team out by sending an aircraft to fly the Black Stars to Tripoli. In the opening match, both teams played a 2-2 draw.
Incidentally, they met in the Final two weeks later, with Ghana winning 7-6 after penalties following a 1-1 draw.
In 2000, as co-hosts and staging the Final match, Nigeria forced Cameroon to a 2-2 draw at the National Stadium, Lagos and then lost the ensuing penalty shootout 3-4 to the Indomitable Lions.
However, some host nations have also had joy in the tournament’s history. Like Egypt beating Sudan 2-1 in Cairo in 1959; Ethiopia beating Egypt 4-2 in Addis Ababa in 1962; Ghana beating Sudan 3-0 in Accra in 1963; Sudan beating Ghana 1-0 in Khartoum in 1970; Ghana beating Uganda 2-0 in Accra in 1978; Nigeria defeating Algeria 3-0 in Lagos in 1980; Egypt defeating Cameroon on penalties in Cairo in 1986; Algeria beating Nigeria 1-0 in Algiers in 1990; South Africa beating Tunisia 2-0 in Johannesburg in 1996; Tunisia defeating Morocco 2-1 in Tunis in 2004 and; Egypt defeating Cote d’Ivoire on penalties in 2006.
While Nigeria’s victories have been within regulation time in 1980, 1994 and 2013, Cote d’Ivoire’s two wins have been after marathon penalty shootouts.
In 1992, with their star-man Abedi Pele suspended after receiving a red card in the semi final against Nigeria, Ghana struggled and could not find a way past the Ivorians. In the ensuing penalty shoot-out, Cote d’Ivoire triumphed 11-10, the trophy secured after defender Anthony Baffoe saw his kick saved by Alain Gouamene.
In 2015, they needed to defeat Ghana 9-8 in a penalty shootout to win in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.
Nigeria defeated Algeria 3-0 in the 1980 Final in Lagos, two of the goals from the boots of Segun Odegbami. In 1994, Emmanuel Amuneke scored both goals as the Eagles edged Zambia 2-1 in Tunis. In 2013, Sunday Mba’s early strike against Burkina Faso in Johannesburg was the only goal of the match.
This time, Nigeria’s progress has been relatively smooth, with a team that has shown good shape and proved to be near-impregnable. As they drew 1-1 with Equatorial Guinea, defeated Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Cameroon and Angola and edged South Africa after a penalty shootout, the only goal that Stanley Nwabali has conceded in open play has been that of Emilio Nsue on the opening day, when his vision was blocked to a shot at the edge of the box.
The Elephants have had a chequered tourney. Roarious 2-0 winners over Guinea Bissau, they were brought down to earth by Nigeria (0-1) and Equatorial Guinea (0-4). They were the last of the best four third-placed teams, sneaking into the Round of 16 after Hakim Ziyech’s goal eliminated Zambia. They equalized late on against Cup holders Senegal in the Round of 16 and then won on penalties.
In the quarter-finals, they were seconds away from being eliminated by Mali, before they found the leveller, and then secured a last-minute winner in extra time. Against Democratic Republic of Congo in the semi-finals, the Elephants held on and then won with a volley by Sebastien Haller.
On Sunday, there will be 60,000 fans at the Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara in Ebimpé, but it is the team that wants it more that will drink from the Cup.
In what mirrors the match days 3 and 4 of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series, Nigeria and Libya will again meet at the same stage in the qualifiers for the 2025 edition.
The same pattern is also maintained with Nigeria hosting first before heading to Libya days later.
When the fixtures first occurred in 2018, an Odion Ighalo inspired Super Eagles won comfortably, 4-0. In the reversed leg in Sfax, Tunisia, the adopted home ground for Libya, Nigeria won 3-2 after Libya initially cancelled Nigeria’s early two-goal lead.
Heading to another back-to-back encounter, the currently bottom-placed Libya has opted to host Group D leaders Nigeria at the Martyrs of Benina Stadium..
The facility is located in the city of Benina, some 19 kilometres outside the country’s second largest city, Benghazi.
Known previously as Hugo Chávez Stadium, the stadium is a 10, 000-capacity facility with an artificial turf.
Both countries will do a Matchday 3 battle at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Friday, 11th October, before the clash in the city at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday, 15th October.
While the match in Uyo will kick off at 5pm, the battle in Benina will commence at 8pm Nigeria time.
Libya remain bottom of Group D after two rounds of matches, following a 1-1 at home to Rwanda (a game that was played at the Tripoli International Stadium) and a 1-2 loss to the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan.
Nigeria top the pool with four points, after a 3-0 spanking of Benin Republic in Uyo on Matchday 1 and a scoreless draw with Rwanda’s Amavubi in Kigali on Matchday 2.
Frenchman Michel Dussuyer has been named Guinea coach, returning for a third stint in charge of the national team, the country’s football federation has said.
Dussuyer is a veteran of the African coaching circuit and managed Guinea from 2002-04 and 2010-15. He was also twice Benin coach and had a stint in charge of the Ivory Coast from 2015-17.
The 65-year-old former goalkeeper has coached at six different Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, taking Guinea to the quarter-finals in 2004 and 2015.
Dussuyer will be Guinea’s third coach this year after they fired former Arsenal and Paris St Germain striker Kaba Diawara following a World Cup qualifier defeat by Mozambique in June.
Charles Paquille was coach for this month’s opening two matches of the 2025 Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, which saw Guinea get off to a poor start, losing away to the Democratic Republic of Congo and at home to Tanzania
They next play two matches against Ethiopia in the Cup of Nations preliminaries on Oct. 11 and 14. Both games will be played in the Ivory Coast because Ethiopia and Guinea do not have a stadium that has been passed fit to host internationals.
-Reuters
The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) has sacked its Serbian coach, Milutin Sredojević who is popularly known as Micho.
This is coming ahead of Libya’s back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations clashes with Nigeria next month.
Paradoxically, Sports Village Square gathered that the coach’s contract was only recently renewed for six months before the axe fell on the Serbian.
His sack was precipitated by the results obtained in their teo matches of the AFCON qualifiers.
Libya drew 1-1 with Rwanda at home and lost 2-1 away to Benin Republic despite beig a goal up at half time.
The Libyan side, Mediterranean Knights are due to play against the Nigeria Super Eagles in Uyo on 6 October while the return leg holds on 14 October at the 11 July Stadium in Tripoli.
According to information Sports Village Square gathered from Tripoli, the Mediterranean Knights’ coach, Micho led the Libyan national team to win nine matches since taking over in October of last year, he failed to build a strong team due to his poor choices.
He also took a risk with the footballers chosen in the AFCON qualifiers, and the result was shocking to the Libyan sports audience.
According to sources close to the Libyan Football Federation, there is a strong tendency to sign a national coach to lead the Libyan team during the remaining qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations.
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