AFCON
Guinea Beat Gambia To Take Giant Step Towards Last 16 Of Cup Of Nations –
Aguibou Camara scored a second-half winner to give Guinea a 1-0 victory over Gambia at the Africa Cup of Nations finals on Friday and help them to take a giant step towards a place in the last 16 of the tournament in the Ivory Coast.
Camara slid home a pass from Morgan Guilavogui to hand Guinea a deserved triumph after they dominated the Group C clash at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium.
Guinea have four points in second place in the standings behind holders Senegal, who top the table with six after they beat Cameroon 3-1 earlier in the day.
Cameroon have a single point while the Gambia have lost their opening two matches.
With the top two teams from each of the six opening-round groups advancing, along with the four best third-placed finishers, Guinea will consider themselves as good as through to the last 16 after an imposing performance.
Mohamed Bayo, who scored in their 1-1 draw with Cameroon in their opening group game on Monday, hit the woodwork twice and there was also a good chance missed by Sekou Oumar Sylla.
Camara’s goal came at the end of a swift passing movement but he needed to stretch out to steer the cross into the net in the 69th minute.
Guinea were eliminated in the last 16 by Gambia on their giant-killing run at the previous Cup of Nations in Cameroon two years ago but turned the tables this time round with Bayo seeing his 33rd-minute shot strike the foot of the upright and bounce away to safety.
Sylla was free on goal in the 61st minute but made poor contact with the ball and saw his chance slip away while Bayo hit the woodwork again in the 74th minute.
Guinea had captain Naby Keita back as a second-half substitute, and he had a stoppage-time effort cleared off the Gambia line, but again they did not use Serhou Guirassy, the VfB Stuttgart striker who has scored 17 Bundesliga goals this season. Guirassy was injured at the pre-tournament training camp in Abu Dhabi and has yet to feature at the finals.
Gambia’s Yankuba Minteh had the ball in the net for Gambia in the 80th minute but was ruled offside and Ablie Jallow missed out at the left post soon after.
Gambia must beat Cameroon in their last game on Tuesday to stand any chance of progress while Guinea will take on Senegal at the same time to determine top place in the group.
-Reuters
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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