AFCON
Cape Verde Beat Ghana To Continue Day Of Shocks At Cup Of Nations –
Garry Rodrigues scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner as the Cape Verde Islands beat four-time champions Ghana 2-1 in Group B to continue Sunday’s sequence of surprise results at the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
It was the third match of the day in Abidjan and followed Nigeria’s draw with Equatorial Guinea in Group A while Egypt needed a last-gasp penalty to draw with Mozambique in the opening Group B match at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium.
Cape Verde went ahead in the 17th minute when Dutch-born Rodrigues’s shot was parried by Ghana goalkeeper Richard Ofori, falling for Jamiro Monteiro to tuck away from close range.
Ghana thought they had equalised 10 minutes before halftime when Majeed Ashimeru struck a powerful shot into the net from outside Cape Verde’s penalty area.
But after a VAR check it was disallowed because Ransford Konigsdorffer, in an offside position, was deemed to be interfering by being in the goalkeeper’s line of sight.
Konigsdorffer was making his way back after inadvertently striking the upright when a punched clearance from Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha hit him flush on and cannoned back towards goal.
Ghana did find parity 11 minutes into the second half with Alexander Djiku heading home from Jordan Ayew’s corner, bending down to get his head to the ball as the islanders’ defence failed to clear an innocuous delivery.
The Black Stars might well have gone ahead with Joseph Paintsil narrowly missing out at the back post after being teed up by Antoine Semenyo.
But after that chances repeatedly fell Cape Verde’s way.
Djiku made a goal-line clearance to deny Bebe 20 minutes from time while Rodrigues was twice denied in the last 10 minutes.
The breakthrough came in stoppage time after Mohammed Salisu failed to clear and a clever touch from debutant substitute Gilson Benchimol took it past Ofori and into Rodrigues’s path.
Ghana veteran Dede Ayew came on with 28 minutes left to mark his participation in his eighth Cup of Nations tournament, equalling the record held by Cameroon’s Rigobert Song and Egyptian Ahmed Hassan.
The earlier Group B game saw Mohamed Salah convert a stoppage-time penalty to spare Egypt’s blushes in a 2-2 draw with Mozambique, playing at their first finals since 2010.
Ghana meet Egypt next on Thursday while Cape Verde take on Mozambique on Friday, both at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium.
-Reuter
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.
What a goal-laden day for Nigeria; Falconets also win with wide margin!
Hurray, Super Eagles back to winning ways!
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